The present invention relates to a head-rest device for comfort in sleeping. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved pillow for comfort in varying sleeping positions including side-rest positions.
The main purpose of a pillow is to provide comfort for the head of the user in varying sleeping positions. The main types of sleeping positions are the side-rest position in which either the left or right side of the head rests against the pillow and the head-up position in which the back of the head rests against the pillow.
A pillow most commonly comes in the form of a sac filled with a soft filling member such as feather, cotton, sponge or any other preferred soft material. The firmness of the sac varies according to the preference of the user. However, for many, these common types of pillow leave much to be desired in terms of comfort. As such, other types of pillow have been contrived to address the comfort factor lacking in the conventional pillow. One type of pillow is the contoured pillow which has a contoured portion raised above the main surface of the pillow. In the contoured pillow, the main surface provides support to the head while the contoured portion provides support to the neck. One such contoured pillow is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,460. The 5,937,460 patent teaches a pillow having a contoured based member having one or more side cushions attached to one or both sides of the base member. The side cushions are connected to the base like flaps which can be removed from or placed on top of the side portion of the base.
Another type of pillow is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,810 issued to Kato. The pillow in Kato has a pair of horizontally opposed side head supports separated by a central head back support unit. The side head supports are raised at a higher level from the central head back support unit. The central unit further has pair of vertically opposed neck support section raised from the central unit.
None of the prior art teaches the pillow as taught in the present invention.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pillow offering the most comfort to an individual when sleeping in varying positions. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a comfortable pillow which can be adjusted to accommodate varying size of people""s head and varying size preferences.
The present invention will now be described. The present invention is a pillow comprising an elongated base member. The pillow further has a central support unit positioned between a left support unit and a right support unit. The central support unit is of a lower predetermined height than the left and right support units. Each support unit is slideably mounted on the base member to allow adjustment of the space between the support units.
Each support unit is comprised of a support base of a firm material which is the portion attaching to the base member. A padding forms the top surface of each support unit. The height of the support unit can be varied according to the thickness of a lightweight spacer member placed between the padding and the support base.
For comfort when sleeping in the right-side or left-side position, an inwardly protruding depression is formed into the top surface of the padding of each of the left and right support units.